


Bāng Wǒ

by Maone



Category: Rush Hour (1998)
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-05-18
Packaged: 2018-09-21 13:44:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9551546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maone/pseuds/Maone
Summary: After having no case to do, Carter and Lee are given several days off. It wouldn't be them if something didn't go wrong. Deadly wrong. (story is not on hiatus, author is just struggling lmao)





	1. Chapter 1

On Wednesday morning, Lee and Carter went to work expecting to have another case thrown at them as it has been every other week for the past two months. After their success with the smuggling case, followed by multiple cases in Hong Kong, both men built up their reputation at the force. Both men were assigned to work as the triads investigators in America, taking mostly cases that involved presence of triads in LA which extended from simple robbery to smuggling. This meant that their schedule was bound to be filled with work on most days, so when they walked into Captain William Diel's office they did not expect to be given couple days off.

"Are you serious Cap'?" Carter looked at the man in disbelief. Diel nodded. "Sure am, Carter. The current cases are nothing that the other officers can't handle and I haven't received any news from Hong Kong, so this is your chance to finally sit back and relax for couple days." He looked over at Lee who was looking at him in puzzlement,"I know, Lee, I'm surprised just as much as you are, but I would rather take this opportunity to enjoy some sight-seeing than dwell on what are the triads going to be up to next. The most serious offenses have been taken care of already and I'm sure they'll be recovering from that for a while, so take this opportunity, yeah?"

Before Lee could say anything, Carter threw his arm around his partner's shoulder and grinned ear to ear. "You don't have to tell us twice, Cap'. We are outta here and off to have some fun, come on Lee!" He said all the while pulling Lee out of the room already before he could even say goodbye.

When they were out, Carter clapped his hands together."Right! So where do you wanna go Lee?"

Lee stood in front of the station entrance while Carter was already climbing into his car.

Carter looked up at his partner. "Come on man, what are you waiting for? We gotta get our asses outta here before Captain changes his mind or something."

Lee blinked, but moved to the car as well, climbing in with Carter's style. Honestly, who needs that door when you can just jump over it with style?

When Lee was in the seat, he glanced over to his side to see Carter staring at him expectantly. The man was sure happy about his sudden freedom.

"I don't know, where do you like to go?" He shrugged and Carter's eyes glinted with determination."You gotta learn to ask for things, Lee. You never gonna find anyone if you keep being indecisive, man....Anyway, James Carter is going to take you out on the ride of your life -" Carter paused for a moment, "okay that didn't come out the way I was hoping for, but you probably don't know what I'm talking about anyway." He looked over to see that lost look on Lee's face and leaned back in his seat. "Good, let's go."

* * *

Later that evening, Carter dropped Lee off at his apartment.

"Remember that Johnson's been planning that lunch for weeks so in case you can't go, call her. I don't want to deal with her _feminime fury_." Carter said as Lee got out.

"You sound scared of her." Lee smiled.

"Hell naw," Carter waved him off, "just cautious, see you later Lee." He shared a quick high-five with Lee and drove off.

Lee watched the car disappear around the corner before he turned around and walked through the apartment building door.

* * *

Tania Johnson was woken up by a pounding on her apartment door. Drowsily, she looked at her alarm clock and groaned.

She rolled off the bed and made her way to the front door, where the pounding still continued. Swiftly opening her door, she was nearly met with Carter's fist in her face.

"What took you so long, Johnson? I been out here knocking my heart out for at least ten minutes, girl."Carter said accusingly walking into her apartment once she moved aside to let him in. "Some of us didn't get the pleasure of having an early vacation Carter, I worked 'till midnight so excuse me if I'm not enthusiastic about you kicking my door down at 7AM." She said, her voice mixed with irritation and sleep.

"So grumpy."

Johnson shot him a glare, before walking back to her bedroom and shutting the door behind her. When Carter heard a lock, he called out.

"Come on Johnson, you've known me for years, why those precautions?!"

"You answered your own question, Carter!" She called back.

"That's cold!"

She walked out again moments later, dressed in casual jeans and t-shirt. Carter knew that Johnson hated shopping for clothes and majority of her wardrobe consisted of mostly comfortable and practical attire.

"I have to say though," she started, walking over to the kitchen counter and pulling out two cups from the shelf,"I'm surprised how well you accepted having a partner, after years of bitching about being the 'lone hero on the force who needs no partner'".

Carter walked to the kitchen table and sat down, throwing his leg over the other and leaning back against the chair.

"First of all, I had no say in this, they forced me to work with Lee." He said, sticking out a finger to count his points,"second of all, he needed me more than I needed him, okay?"

Johnson smirked at that. Carter noticed, immediatelly getting huffy. "Don't even start Johnson, you know it's true." He threatened, she raised her arms in mocking surrender and moved to prepare their coffee. "And third of all," Carter continued, "I can't just let him run around LA on his own, he almost got into a fight yesterday with bunch of thugs because he greeted them with 'wassup, my nigga'" The poor imitation of Lee's accent already had a smile tugging at Johnson's lips, "seriously, where the hell does he learn that stuff?" Carter exasperated. At this point, Johnson started laughing out loud.

"What's so funny about that?"

She wiped away a tear.

"Carter, you do realize that you and I are the only people he knows in America?"

Carter stared at her suspiciously.

"Did you teach him that word?"

"Oh, fuck you Carter." She threw a towel on him and picked up their coffee cups, placing them on the kitchen table. "Speaking of Lee, is he coming today?"

Carter shrugged.

"Dunno, he's gonna call if he can't, otherwise I'm stopping by his place at 11. Are you bringing someone along?"

Johnson stirred her coffee. "My niece wanted to come along, she saw you two on the news and she wants to meet Lee."

"And what about me?" Said Carter, hurt.

Johnson rolled her eyes.

"She already knows you, Carter. You even babysat her."

"She's not going to understand a word he'll say though."

Johnson raised an eyebrow,"If she understands you, it's already an achievement."

* * *

 Johnson and Carter drive to the station to drop off some documents, before they head out to Lee's place. It's the first time Johnson has been there, it's a six story building, pretty average looking, the apartment has been given to Lee by his superiors. Johnson found it surprising that the place was as average is it is, with his connections to the Chinese Consul, but after briefly knowing Lee, she noticed that he was a pretty reserved guy.

Carter noticed Johnson examining the building in silence.

"Yeah, I wondered why he lives in this dump too, if I were him I'd demand a penthouse and no less."

She looked at him.

"Well, thank god he's not you."

They make their way up to the fourth floor and head over to Lee's apartment door. The entire complex is suprisingly quiet during the day.

"Do other people even live here?" Johnson asked. Carter nodded. "Yeah, but not on this floor I think. Lee said something about the Consul buying the other apartment for some of his people, but they rarely stay here."

"Weird."

"Yeah, that's what I said." Carter replied and went over to knock on the door.

However there was no response.

"That's weird." Carter said,"what time is it?"

"Five past eleven," said Johnson looking at her watch.

"He didn't call you did he? Didn't call me at least." Carter looked at his phone, while Johnson pulled hers out and shook her head. "No, nothing."

Carter knocked again, louder this time and they both listened.

Complete silence.

"Let me call him, maybe he left already."Johnson said and dialed Lee's number.

As she waited for Lee to pick up, Carter caught a noise coming from inside. He poked Johnson and she looked up. "What?"

"Do you hear that?" Carter nearly whispered. Johnson pulled the phone from her ear and listened.

There it was again. Carter put his ear against the door and Johnson followed the motion.

The noise sounded like a song out of tune, very muffled too.

Johnson looked at her phone, still dialing Lee and cold dread ran through her. "Carter, that's his phone."

Carter seemed to know that already as he started to pound on the door and calling out Lee's name. "Lee, are you in there?!"

"I don't like this, something's wrong."

"Yeah, he always answers his phone." Carter's voice was filled with worry, he moved away from the door to the opposite wall. "Move Johnson, I'm kicking the door down." She nodded and moved out of the way, her fear increasing when she heard the change in Carter's tone.

With a running start, Carter kicked the door with full force, it almost immediately broke down under the intense pressure. As soon as it did, both Carter and Johnson were hit by a strong and familiar smell. Very distinctive smell of death.

Carter was standing wide eyed in the doorway when Johnson pushed past him and gasped,"Oh my god."

The scene that unfolded before them could only be described as a complete carnage.

A dead man face down on the ground, the remains of his brain spattered on the wall and blood pooling underneath him. Bloody drag marks covered the floor and as Carter followed the trail with his eyes, he saw Lee, curled up and seemingly trying to make himself as little as possible. He seemed to be conscious even if visibly wounded, but something was off in the way Lee was staring in their direction. Carter didn't think twice and rushed to his partner's side, Johnson following him close behind. Carter dropped to his knees, his hands immediately resting on Lee's shoulders as he looked him over.

His partner still wore the same suit he had the last time Carter saw him, at least what was left of it, which could only mean that whoever did this to him had to do it on the night Carter dropped him off at his place. Lee's rigid and unresponsive posture made it very difficult for Carter to see how badly he was injured and it was frightening to see Lee in such a bad state. While he was conscious, his eyes were unfocused, he didn't even twitch when Johnson and Carter called out to him or when they approached him. Carter was no psychologist, but he had seen this kind of behavior before; overdosed junkies.

Lee was clutching his right arm against his chest, which appeared to be one of the main sources of his bleeding. Blood still seeping through the ruined shirt.

Carter knew Lee would never take drugs willingly. Someone had to force it on him, there's no way in hell that he'd do this to himself. He had to check, had to be sure. Slowly, he reached out to Lee, taking a hold of the injured arm, he tried turning it around, but Lee kept it firmly resting against his chest, unwilling to budge. It pained Carter to have to do this, feeling the intense resistance from Lee, the desperation to be left alone.

He swallowed.

"Lee," he started softly,"it's me, Carter, your partner."

He shuffled a bit until he was sure that Lee was seeing him, or at least, aware of his presence. "You have to show me your arm, I'm not going to hurt you."

Lee just blinked, his eyes fixed on something beyond Carter and while Carter knew that Lee was strong, the force he was putting into resisting Carter's attempt to expose his arm, was pretty impressive. However the position he was in, with one arm firmly pressed against his chest and the other wrapped around his midsection, the death grip on his own skin so strong that he was undoubtedly bruising himself, there was no way he could resist Carter for long.

Sure enough, Lee's resistance loosened and Carter was able to take a look at his forearm. With care, he lifted the torn shirt and there it was. Multiple punctures along the basilic vein. Dried blood and bruising around the punctures proved that the drug insertion was forced. In fact, Carter could see multiple ugly slice wounds, Lee's desperate attempts to get the needles away from him and ultimately losing that battle.

"I'll call for backup and ambulance." Johnson choked out, it was partly her obligation and partly her inability to look into Lee's eyes anymore.

She swallowed a lump in her throat. The sight of someone as kind and sweet as Lee was, reduced to this shell of a man. 

While Johnson was occupied with the calls and keeping the sight of a dead man covered from anyone walking past the apartment, Carter continued with checking on Lee's condition. For starters, he noticed that what Lee kept staring at was actually the dead man in the hallway. Hoping that moving Lee from that spot would make him cooperate more, Carter carefully moved closed to try and move him, but when he looked down to see how he could pick Lee up, he noticed something alarming. Lee's pants were either sliced or ripped open in the zipper area. He had a grim feeling gnawing at his brain.

"Johnson?!" Carter called out.

"Yes?!"

"Can you tell me if the dead guy has his pants open?!"

"I don't know if I can do that, I'd have to move his body and-"

"Oh for fuck sake!" Carter spit out in frustration, getting up and walking over to the corpse himself. He slightly turned the body to the side, checking on his fly. Nothing out of the ordinary, he unceremoniously let the body fall again and returned back to Lee.

"Why did you do that?" Johnson stuttered, but Carter completely ignored her, anger overcoming his senses as he struggled to get Lee up. Johnson could hear him muttering angrily under his breath.

"Who would want to hurt you like this, what kind of a sick fuck did this?"

Johnson watched Carter finally get a solid grip under Lee's legs and it was like watching a mannequin being carried around. Lee was still uncooperative. When Carter was about to head to Lee's bedroom, Johnson called out. "Wait, Carter, let's take him out of the apartment instead." Carter gave her a questioning look, so Johnson explained further. "Wouldn't you too want to get out of the place where you got tortured?"

Carter paused for a moment and glanced at Lee who still bore that blank stare."Alright, let's wait for the backup outside, they should be on their way already, right?"

Johnson nodded, her eyes fixed on Lee's still form in Carter's arms, when her eyes widened in shock, Carter followed her gaze. She noticed it too, he realized.

"Why are his pants opened, did they, did he.." She was stuttering yet again, looking from Lee to the dead man, her vision blurring with tears. It was becoming too much.

"I don't know. I don't think so and I hope I'm right."

"Oh God..." Johnson felt like she was going to be sick. This couldn't be happening. Not only did they drug him, but they went as far as to rape? What sort of animal would have the guts to do this to an innocent man?

* * *

They waited for backup in the hallway, Johnson sitting with her hands resting on her knees on one side of the door, Carter sitting beside her, with Lee pressed against his side doing nothing but blinking occasionally. When the police show up, Johnson and Carter point them towards the apartment door.

One of the officers staring at Lee,"did he say anything about what happened?"

Carter glared at him. "Does he look like he can talk?"

The officer raised an eyebrow."I only asked."

Paramedics followed the officers and knelt in front of Lee, pulling out their equipment. Carter felt Lee make his first movement and looked over at him to see what caused it. Lee was staring, wide eyed, at one of the paramedics holding a needle. Carter immediately shot forward, waving at the man holding the needle.

"No,no,no, put it away, no needles!"

The paramedic insisted,"But it's necessary that we-"

Carter felt Lee press further into his side, he was getting scared. "I said no damn needles, didn't you hear me?!"

"Are you his partner?"

"Damn right I'm his partner."

"We have to take a blood sample, to find out what drug has been used. It will only take few seconds."

"Look at him," Carter nodded towards Lee,"I had to fight him to even let him show me his arm and you think he's going to let you pull out the big guns?"

"Sir, we had dealt with drug addicts before."

"Don't you dare to compare him to some fucking junkie or I swear I'll -"

"Carter!" Johnson snapped and Carter kept his mouth shut, it wasn't worth it, they were trying to help Lee.

"Alright sir, calm down. Let's just take him to the ambulance, we'll figure something there. He's in catatonic overdose already, did you carry him out here?" The paramedic remained calm, clearly used to difficult people and Carter was not going to be anything but difficult. He wasn't going to tolerate anybody treating his partner like some common junkie, especially if they didn't know the circumstances and since he couldn't speak for himself right now, Carter would do it for him.

"Yeah." Carter nodded.

"Will you be able to bring him down to the ambulance for us or should we call for a stretcher?" The paramedic pointed to his walkie-talkie. Carter shook his head and moved around Lee, who wasn't happy about the sudden change, letting out a low whine as he was once again lifted up. "I know you want to be left alone,Lee. I'm sorry about this,man."Carter said apologetically."Let's just go, we wastin' our time like this."He headed towards the elevator, closely followed by the paramedics.

"Carter, call me when you get there!" Johnson called after him.

"Will do!"He called back.

Before the elevator door closed behind them, Johnson had a last glimpse of Lee, his expression growing from neutral to terrified. She could only pray that the sudden pressure on him won't end up in another carnage at the hospital. At least he had Carter with him. Carter wouldn't let anyone hurt him. They'll be alright.

_I hope._


	2. Chapter 2

When Carter exited the apartment building, it was starting to rain. They had to be there a lot longer than he thought. He carried his partner to the ambulance standing nearby, paramedics opening the back door for him.

"Put him down here," one of the paramedics pointed towards the stretcher inside the ambulance. Carter did just that, watching Lee almost immediately curl into himself on his side. It was a pitiful sight and it only made Carter angrier, he clenched his fists at the thought of coming across the people who did this. Shit like this made him question why aren't they allowed to straight up shoot these fuckers on sight.

Meanwhile, one of the paramedics pulled out a needle that was connected to a little bag. The man had to see Carter glaring at him as he sighed and said,"The combination of drugs and blood loss is the reason why he's unable to walk on his own. His brain isn't getting enough oxygen, so I have to inject him with fluids that will replace what his body isn't able to produce right now. It will make him feel better."

The paramedic saw Lee giving him an equally displeasing look, so he pleaded with Carter,"Just hold him down for me, please."

Carter knew that Lee needed their help and while he didn't like seeing Lee so afraid, he was painfully aware that his partner's state required this. He sat down on the stretcher and took a hold of Lee's hand, linking their fingers together and leaning closer to Lee's face just so he had his full attention."He's not going to hurt you," he pointed at the medic and Lee's eyes followed his hand, before turning back to stare at Carter, so Carter continued talking, while the paramedic carefully took a hold of Lee's wrist, straightening his arm to insert the needle."If he hurts you, just give me a squeeze and I'll beat the shit out of him, alright?" Carter squeezed his hand in demonstration. Lee just blinked at him, but Carter was sure he saw a faint smile tugging at his lips and he winked at his partner.

The paramedic gave him a look once the needle was inserted.

"Now, that's not nice."

Fortunately, his patient made no move to be true to those words.

* * *

 

At the hospital, Carter was separated from Lee and no matter how much he protested, he was not allowed to follow his partner to the treatment. Carter could only watch as they wheeled Lee away, still curled up on his side trying to protect himself from any further harm.

Captain William Diel arrived moments after Carter got there.Report of the attack on one of his most valuable allies, getting him almost immediately out of his seat and driving to the hospital. Even though he didn't spend as much time with Inspector Lee as Carter did, the man was still one of the most humble and respectful individuals Diel had ever worked with and he had enough sympathy for the man to see his condition for himself and ensure everything is being done for his recovery.

When Diel walked down the hall he was directed to by the Information desk, he could already hear Carter from distance, the distress in his subordinate's voice very clear. When he turned around the corner, he saw Carter pacing back and forth in front of closed Examination room and whoever he was talking to, clearly denied him entry.

"Carter!" Diel called out to the man. Carter twisting his body to look at Diel, surprised. "Captain? What are you doing here?" He asked, his pacing coming to a halt as Diel approached him.

"Johnson called me, don't forget that Inspector Lee is one of our own and I care about the wellbeing of my men. Is he in there?" Said Diel, pointing at the closed door. Carter nodded, his surprise turning to frown.

"They wouldn't let me be with him," Carter shook his head in disapproval,"He's terrified, I'm telling you, Captain. This isn't going to end well. He shouldn't be there with them on his own, not when he's like that."

Diel placed his hand on Carter's shoulder in sympathy.

"Carter, you know you can't hover over them while they are treating him, there's a policy on that." He sighed, "He'll be fine, don't worry. Just let them do their job."

Carter swallowed hard and bowed his head, staring at the ground. Diel knew what was going through his head, he's been in his place once in his own life.

"You can't always be there when your partner needs you, it just doesn't work like that. You can't predict when someone's going to decide that they'll fuck up somebody's life. The main thing is that he's alive and he's going to need you to pull through this," Diel squeezed his shoulder,"I know you are not a selfish bastard, Carter. You might be one of the most reckless sonofabitch that I ever had to work with, but ever since Lee showed up, you did your best to be a good partner."

Carter looked up at Diel, small spark of hope and perhaphs a little bit of pride in his eyes, he pursed his lips and nodded in understanding.

"Thank you, Captain. That means a lot."

Diel smiled and slapped Carter on the back,"Alright, enough sulking, let's get a coffee, yeah?"

Carter couldn't protest, he already lost his battle of getting in there, so he might as well just wait it out like he was told to. He looked at the closed door one more time and walked away with Diel to the cafeteria.

* * *

 

It couldn't have been more than ten minutes of Carter being away, when they heard a commotion and several medical staff members ran past them, both men looked at each other and took off after them. The direction the staff was headed to, was telling on it's own of what the situation unfolding might be.

When they got to the Examination room, the door was wide open and even from the distance, both Carter and Diel could see that the place was absolutely trashed. Carter bolted, running towards the room, Diel after him, worrying about the worst, praying that Carter won't do something stupid at the sight of his partner in whatever state he was going to be, because something went obviously wrong.

The room was filled with people, Carter heard a crying female and saw a nurse laying on the ground, clutching her midsection, tears rolling down her reddened face as people attempted to comfort her and carefully worked to lift her up on another stretcher. Carter searched the room for his partner, only to see his now completely unconscious form laying in the corner, in a pretty uncomfortable position, with two men standing over him. They weren't doing anything to help him, they seemed to be more focused on making sure he stayed down.

Diel couldn't help but gasp in shock and Carter was rendered speechless as he made his way to his fallen partner, practically shoving the men away from him. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He carefully pulled Lee into his arms, settling him into a more comfortable position than he was so unceremoniously left in.

His eyes moving back and forth between the injured nurse and Lee as he finally found his voice and asked.

"What the hell happened here? Why is he unconscious?"

One of the men that was standing above Lee when Carter got there, wiped his brow and said, "He was fine at first, the doctor patched his arms without a problem, but then the nurse approached him so she could take a blood sample for the drug tests and he went ballistic, before we could stop him he kicked her and sent her flying across the room and when we tried to calm him down, he attacked us, so we were forced to sedate him."

Carter looked at him in disbelief."Why didn't you call me here when you wanted to take his blood? I told you that he's terrified of needles, that he's going to freak out and you still went ahead and tried to do it? And then when he gets scared because he thinks you are hurting him, you tackle him on the ground and drug him some more like he's some kind of an animal that has to be tamed?" He said incredulously,"Are you fucking serious right now?!"

"There was nothing else we could have done, he seriously injured a nurse, he could have had killed her." The man defended. Carter shook his head, absolutely dumbfounded."Didn't you fucking hear me right now? I said 'Why the fuck.Did you not.Call me?'"

Diel, noticing Carter's increasing rage, walked in between the two of them, pushing the man further away from Carter.

"We couldn't have predicted that he would be this difficult to calm down, we were not given any other information besides him being an officer and we had never experienced such violence from an officer before, so we did not expect it."

"Because he's a cute little asian man, right? Looks harmless enough, yeah?! Well, go ahead, take that goddamn sample, he's all up for it now after you did such a good job at coaxing him. Maybe, you know, ask next time before you try to be a smartass with his partner, who, oh I don't know, fucking **works with him**?!"

The man pursed his lips, clearly trying to hold back from snapping at Carter, so Diel took this opportunity to speak up.

"Carter, help them get Lee back on the stretcher and then we are going to leave and let the doctor deal with the injured nurse." Diel turned to the nurse on a stretcher about to be wheeled out of there,"I'm really sorry about this, miss. I'm convinced that Lee will feel just as bad about this when he's awake and aware of his surroundings. He would never intentionally hurt anyone."

The nurse gave him a pained smile. "It's okay, really. It was my fault anyway." Diel shook his head. "Nonsense, accidents happen and none of us could have expected this to happen" Diel glanced at Carter before he could say something,then he continued, "still I apologize and I hope you'll be alright."

"Thank you, sir." She said before her colleagues wheeled her away.

One of the male nurses moved to help Carter lift Lee on the stretcher, but one glare from the irritated detective was enough to make them think otherwise. Carter lifted Lee on his own and carefully placed him on the stretcher, mumbling something to him that Diel only assumed was an apology. Then he looked over everyone present in the room and pointed at Lee, his hand slightly shaking.

"This man spent the last night in a living nightmare, all I want from you is to start treating him like a victim of a serious crime and not like some stray junkie you picked off the street, because I know that if any of you were in his position, he would do his best to help you no matter where you came from."

With that, Carter turned around and left the room, Diel gave the silent staff a sad look and followed Carter.

* * *

They sat in the waiting room in silence, Carter stared at the floor, Diel was reading a magazine but not really paying attention to the words. The silence kept heavy atmosphere between them, but Diel didn't want to push his subordinate and there was no reason to be angry with him. Diel knew that Carter was right when he told them to call him to help with Lee, after all, they have been partners for a while and Carter was the only person Lee spent most of his time with in America, so it only made sense for him to feel safe around him. But again, the hospital policy clashed with natural instinct and there was nothing they could have done about it.

Few moments passed before Carter's phone started ringing, Diel looked up from his magazine and Carter picked up the phone.

"Carter." He said in a tired voice, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. "Oh shit, sorry Johnson, I forgot...Yeah, Captain is here, they are still treating Lee, there was a bit of a delay."

Diel stared at Carter. _Not going to tell her what happened, that's odd_ , he thought. Maybe he didn't want to worry her? After all, she was there when they found Lee.

"Uh, we are at LAC Medical Center" Carter said, Johnson was heading over then,"...Yeah, I'll be waiting, bye." Carter ended the call and turned to Diel.

"Johnson's coming in a bit, said it would be better if she told us in person about what they found out."

Diel nodded.

"Alright, they should be done with Lee soon as well."

Carter sighed.

"Hm?" Diel stared at him questioningly.

"I can't wrap my head around who would want to do this to Lee, none of the people we dealt with so far would have a reason to do this. They would just kill him, but this?" Carter shook his head. "Doesn't make sense to me."

Diel leaned back in his chair, thinking.

"For one, we don't know about his past, because of his connections to Consul Han and past dealings with the triads, the access to his files before he came to America, is classified. If he made enemies back in Hong Kong, we wouldn't know about it."

"It wouldn't make sense for them to go after him now and here, not to mention the things they did and tried to do..."

"Detective Carter?"

Before Carter could let his thoughts fall into that dark space again, he was snapped out of it by a female doctor's voice. He jumped out of his seat.

"Is he going to be alright, doc?" He asked expectantly. The doctor gave him a fond smile, clutching a folder that Carter could only presume was on Lee.

"He is going to fully recover, yes. From my understanding of the circumstances, he was assaulted in his home, correct?"

Carter nodded.

"He suffered blunt force trauma to the back of his head, multiple cuts and bruises that were not as severe as one would expect during an assault, but we also found traces of defensive wounds which reduced the trauma. The cut wounds on his forearms needed stitches, but fortunately missed the basilic vein, the pattern seems to be from a very thin sharp edge, most likely the needle used to inject the drug into his system," the doctor paused, browsing through the folder in her arms,"the drug used in this case was Clozapine, it's an antipsychotic drug used during schizophrenia treatment. Due to it's cause of drowsiness it's possible that your perpetrator believed it would be easier to coax any sort of information out of your partner, however they didn't seem to have a knowledge of proper dosing and instead of their desired effect, ended up rendering your partner into a delusional catatonic state. We have already applied medication to counter the overdose and Mr.Lee is already showing improvement."

"However, there are signs of a serious psychological trauma. We found traces of attempted sexual assault on your partner," when she saw both Carter and Diel's eyes widen, she immediately continued,"there are bruises along his pelvic bone, but no sign of penetration. If Mr.Lee managed to stop the assault or the perpetrator stopped himself is impossible to tell, but it did not reach the act."

Carter and Diel looked at each other in relief. At least something.

"By that I am not trying to say it's any less worrisome than it would be if it happened, in fact, I'm afraid that Mr.Lee's erratic behavior and muteness is heavily influenced by this."

"So it's not the drugs making him act like this?"Carter asked.

The doctor shook her head,"The Clozapine is definitely influencing the way Mr.Lee thinks, but not as heavily as one would expect. I would prescribe your partner some antidepressants once we are sure the drug is out of his system and I would recommend that he doesn't stay alone during his recovery at home.Post traumatic depression very unpredictable and having company of a friend would make the recovery much easier and perhaps even quicker."

"When is he going to be released?" This time Diel came forward with questioning. The doctor thought about it a bit before answering.

"Probably tomorrow, we just want to be sure the drug is out of his system, but otherwise he has no injuries that would require him to stay here any longer than that."

"Can you take us to his room?" Carter asked. The doctor nodded."Of course, follow me."

* * *

When they entered, Lee was awake once again. He was sitting in a bed, hospital gown on and his bandaged arms resting in his lap while his stare was fixed on the window. Carter walked over to the bed and sat at the edge, which made Lee turn to face him and his expression changed from neutral to something between sadness and surprise as he lifted his arms towards Carter who understood what he was trying to do and wrapped his arms around Lee. Diel only watched them in silence, knowing that they desperately needed that hug.

"I'm really sorry about what happened, I should have been there." Carter whispered in his ear so only Lee could hear it. Lee's response to that was hiding his face in Carter's shoulder.

"I'm heading back to the office, Carter. Tell Johnson to stop by after she's done here." Diel said and Carter looked up, distracted enough to forget that the Captain was still standing there, Diel turned around to leave and hesitated for a moment before adding,"I wish you to get better soon, Inspector Lee."

Carter nodded in thanks, since Lee was busy clinging to him and watched Diel leave.

* * *

When Johnson showed up, Carter was sitting in a chair by the bed, while Lee was curled up and asleep under the blanket, medication countering the drug in his system taking it's effect. Seeing the quiet setting in front of her, she carefully closed the door behind her and and nodded her hello at Carter, who nodded back. He noticed that she was carrying a bag and she whispered, _"I brought him clothes, you said they are releasing him tomorrow and the clothes he wore before were ruined."_

 _"Oh yeah, thanks."_ Carter whispered back.

Johnson set the bag on the ground next to the bed and walked around to look at Lee. " _Is he going to be okay?_ "She asked. Carter nodded. " _They gave him something to counter the drug, made him fall asleep almost immediately._ "

 _"He's so cute, all curled up like this."_ She grinned.

Carter rolled his eyes _,"Of course he is, so what did you find out?"_

Her smile fell and she pointed at the door.

_"Can we talk outside?"_

Carter nodded and quietly stood up, Johnson following him to the door. They carefully closed it behind them and begun to walk down the corridor.

"According to the coroner, the dead guy we found has been dead for no more than an hour." Johnson said grimly. Carter frowned.

"Meaning that whoever attacked Lee was most likely still there when we knocked." He said.

"And we startled him."

Carter paused.

"But why would he still be there, Lee was drugged out of his mind, there was no way he was going to get anything out of him, unless..."

Johnson pursed her lips. "It's possible that he was waiting for Lee to die from overdose. There were blood marks on a wall facing the spot we found Lee in, as if someone with bloody clothes was leaning against it, watching him."

The thought of Lee sitting there, being unable to move and basically waiting to die, it sent shivers down Carter's spine.

"We found the living room window opened, that's most likely the way he escaped through when we got there."

Carter cursed under his breath,"I wish we at least had some description on who to look for."

"Lee still isn't talking?" Johnson asked softly. Carter shook his head. "The doctor says he's got PTSD, she thinks the attempt they made on Lee has a lot to do with him not talking."

Johnson swallowed when she remembered seeing Lee's ripped pants, thinking the worst. "Was he..?"

Carter shook his head.

"They didn't manage to get that far, don't know what stopped them, but I don't really care. He's okay."

Johnson sighed in relief.

* * *

 

They had to be walking around for quite a while, because by the time they got back, Lee was not only awake, but changed to the clothes that Johnson brought him.

Lee was sitting on a windowsill, arms resting on his knees as he stared at whatever was out there.Carter had to admit he was taken aback by how different Lee looked like this. He was wearing white sweat pants and a plain white shirt that stuck to his torso, highlighting his fit body. If only he had his tradermark smile, Carter would be probably smitten right there and then.

"Lee! I'm so glad to see that you're awake!" Johnson smiled ear to ear and walked up to him, Lee turned his head to face her and she gently patted him on the leg, unsure if Lee would let her as close as Carter, but Lee slowly slid off the windowsill and gave her a proper hug. The action surprising her so much that she started to tear up, gratefully returning the embrace. "I'm sorry." She sobbed. "So sorry."

Lee simply rubbed circles on her back, comforting her.

Carter bit his lip. He knew what she meant. Partner's guilt. _We should have been there for you._

_I should always be there for you._

* * *

 

Johnson left shortly after they spent some time with Lee. Carter remained, partly because Lee needed the company and partly to stand guard. As long as Lee's attacker or attacker were anonymous, he wasn't safe.

Yeah, they could have had brought more officers to stand watch, but Carter was as good at it, if not better than most people in their precint and it did not raise any suspicion when he spent so much time in the room with Lee.

As the evening hit though, exhaustion began catching up with him and soon he was making his way to the cafeteria for a coffee to wake himself up. Along the way he called Johnson, asking about any new leads and just having a casual conversation to keep himself from falling asleep.

"I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep after today," she said while Carter had to fight back a yawn. To his defense, he spent the entire day by Lee's side.

"Yeah, it went downhill pretty fast," Carter replied.

"The dead guy and then Lee in the corner, still gives me shivers...."

Not even Carter was going to shake that image out of his head and he prayed that he'd never have to see Lee like this ever again. Drugged out of his mind, curled up in a corner, bleeding and -

Carter paused as he remembered something else.

He clearly missed Johnson saying something as he suddenly asked, "Carter? Are you okay?"

He snapped out of it immediately and asked her, "Johnson, you said the window in the living room was opened?"

Clearly surprised at the random turn of subject, she hesitantly agreed,"Um, yes, it was. What about it?"

"Johnson it wasn't open when we got there, Lee was underneath it the whole time."

This time Johnson fell silent.

"He was in the apartment with us, the entire time."

"But how would he get out when the police got there, they would have found him, they went through every room..."

"When we sat in the hallway, he had time to get out then."

Another pause.

"Carter you don't think he followed you to the hospital, do you?"

"I'll call you back."

"Carter?!"

He ended the call abruptly and shoved the phone in his pocket, terrifying thoughts taking over his mind as he raced back to Lee's room.

He prayed he was wrong, there was no way the attacker would actually wait this long. No way.

When he turned around the corner, he saw one lone door wide open in the dark corridor.

He never ran so fast in his life.

He reached the door in no time and to his shock, the room was empty. All he saw were muddy shoeprints on the floor and Lee was nowhere to be found, all there was, was an open window, raindrops making a small puddle underneath it. He rushed to it and leaning out, he looked for any sign of Lee. It was quite a drop to get down, but Carter knew Lee would go for it, especially if he felt like his life is in danger.

Carter couldn't see anything in the darkness outside besides the areas that were lit up by street lamps, no sign of Lee or whoever he was running from. Carter was panicking now as he fumbled to get his phone out again and frantically dialed Johnson again.

"Carter, finally,  is everything okay?!"

"Call Diel, Lee's gone and it looks like his attacker is hot on his heels. I'm going to look for them."

"Carter don't go on your own!"

But he paid her no heed. His partner needed him.

In a second, he was out of the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The clothes I chose for Lee in this chapter are inspired by the movie Gorgeous and Jackie's love for white clothing in general.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one's short purely for the feels.

By the time Carter had ran out of the hospital building, it dawned on him, that he had no idea where Lee or his pursuer were headed to. He stared into the darkness, his eyes squinting at the rain that the wind blew in his face. Even in the poor visual conditions, he was able to see a dark figure running ahead with an unusual determination, so, relying on his hunch, he took off after them.

The weather was terrible that night, Carter only had his suit and the quicker he'd became soaked, the more he started to feel the chill. That of course meant that Lee had to be absolutely freezing, the thought of that only fueled him with more determination as he sped up, slowly but surely catching up to the person he decided to follow. The closer Carter got to this individual, the more he was sure of their intent as he'd noticed a gun firmly grasped in their hand. Instinctively, he reached for his own and the cold steel quickly warmed up in his grasp.

The person stopped running when they reached an alley, still unaware of Carter running after them, they begun to search the area. Carter hasn't seen Lee up until that moment, but the person was clearly not running around blindly when they stopped there. It would have been unusal for Lee to halt the chase so soon, Carter had known him long enough to be vaguely familar with his partner's actions, but he was also painfully aware that his partner was injured right now and wouldn't have been able to keep going as long as he usually does. The alley was dark enough for Lee to hide there, that was enough for Carter, now he just had to get the person before they got Lee.

"LAPD! Drop the gun!" He shouted, gun pointing, the person had almost immediately turned and pointed his own gun at him. The only light in the alley was a lone street lamp in between Carter and the pursuer, so they were able to see each other in the dim light, Carter immediately took in the way the person was dressed. Black hoodie, black mask, just like any other assassin and Carter have had seen enough of those in his life by now. When the person chuckled, Carter knew it was a man. He took a firm grip on his gun and took a step closer.

"You won't be laughing no more if you don't drop the gun like I told you!" Carter threatened once more, but the man made no attempt to follow his request, his gun still aimed at Carter, his hand was perfectly still. Then the man started speaking and Carter felt immediately uneasy at the calm of his voice.

"So, you're Carter, huh? You sure have a nerve to be pointing that thing at me, boy." The man nodded his head at Carter's gun.

Carter frowned.

"How the hell do you know my name?"

The man shrugged.

"Lee, who else?" He mimicked Carter's move and walked closer. "You think I give a damn about some nobody from LAPD? I hate to burst your bubble."

"Why are you trying to get my partner, what do you want from him?"

"Ah, let me guess. He's still not talking, huh?" The man snickered. "Asians are always so melodramatic when you hurt their feelings."

"You're gonna be hurting even more if you don't drop that gun, boy."

"Lee! I hope you have a good view on your partner's upcoming death!" The man called out into the darkness, "Unless, you stop being a little coward and show yourself, I might even consider sparing him!"

"Stay where you are, Lee!" Carter shouted, eyes fixed on his opponent.

"Aw, aren't you cute? No wonder he cried for you like a little bitch, a little bitch needs a big bitch when she can't handle a fat cock, what a love story." The man's attitude changed from cheerful to agitated as he took another step closer to Carter. "Go ahead and shoot me you badass, he's as good as dead anyway, if not by me, then somebody else. You're just poking the hive."

When the shots were fired, Carter saw a flash of white that was quickly followed by a searing pain. The panic hit him before he hit the ground. Once he did, he was already scrambling to get up. The urgency blocking out the pain of being shot as he saw Lee dropping on the guy from above.

He knew that Lee was making a terrible mistake.

"Lee, stop! He's -"

Shots rang out before he had the chance to finish his warning. He frantically scrambled for his gun, feeling the warmth of blood on his arm as he reached for the familiar steel. Eyes fixed on the two figures struggling on the ground. He heard a distinctive sound of bone breaking, followed by what Carter could only describe as a fist hitting a piece of meat. By the time he managed to get on his feet, it was all over.

The sound of violence was replaced with barely audible sobs. When Carter got close enough to see what had unfolded, he knew he didn't need his gun anymore. Lee was sitting on top of the man, his head was bowed and his bloodstained hands covered his face as his shoulders shook in quiet sobs. A large pool of blood was forming underneath them, the rain dispersed it quicker staining Lee's white pants and bare feet.

Once Carter had a good look at the man's face, he knew Lee had killed him. Beaten beyond recognition. The sight was sickening and Carter had to be honest, he couldn't believe that Lee was capable of something like this. The countless times Carter struggled to make Lee understand that they have to be forceful if they ever wanted to get anything done...Lee was always against his violent approach and never took part in it unless Carter was overwhelmed and needed his help, but even then he never, not even remotely, caused severe injuries.

And now he had beaten a man to death, even in his weakened state. Carter was amazed to say the least.

Carefuly he tucked his gun away and knelt besides Lee who didn't seem to notice him. He didn't want to startle him, but the heartbreaking sobs made him reach out and gently place his hand on Lee's shoulder. Lee immediately jerked away at the contact and gave him a startled look.

"Lee, it's okay, it's just me." Carter raised his hand in surrender, unsure how would Lee react.

"Carter?"

Carter's eyes widened as he heard the choked voice of his partner, the man that was not supposed to speak because he was too broken and even though his voice did sound as broken as he felt, Carter couldn't help his growing grin, because that was the best thing he heard thorough the entire day.

"Lee! Your voice is back!" He beamed.

Lee stared at him with bloodshot eyes, rain washing off the tears and blood off his face and Carter was about to become concerned again, but then Lee practically leaped off the man and straight to Carter and before he could even say anything, Lee was kissing him.

Whatever Carter was about to say, went up in a smoke as the smaller man wrapped his arms around Carter's neck and feverishly planted kisses on his cheeks, on his lips and Carter almost fell over as Lee pressed against him, his body language screaming of desperation for contact and obvious relief at seeing Carter alive. Something that hasn't occured to Carter when he reached out to him. The fact that Lee thought that he's dead.

And he wanted to tell him that he's okay, that it's only a scratch, but Lee was still kissing him, so he did the only thing that came to his mind, he kissed Lee back. His arms carefuly wrapped around his partner's waist, his wound stinging in protest of the action but, right now, Carter honestly didn't care. They were both alive and they both needed this, needed each other. Carter wished he could say he was surprised at how comfortable he was right now, kissing Lee, but after everything that has happened, he knew he would have done anything to keep Lee safe, he knew he loved him.

When he finally pulled back, Lee's hands slid off from around his neck and Carter looked at them, startled. He grabbed them before Lee could pull away entirely.

"Your fingers are broken, what the hell?" He carefuly turned both hands palms up, examining the broken digits. When Lee didn't respond, the realization dawned on him rather quickly and he felt sadness wash over him.

"Shit, Lee, I'm sorry." He said and pulled him into an embrace. Lee nuzzled his cheek and sighed.

"Glad you are okay."

Carter nodded, "I'm glad you are okay too."

When Lee shivered against him, Carter remembered that his partner was out in the rain in just a shirt and barefeet on top of that, so he pulled away and stood up, pulling Lee with him. He glanced at Lee's feet. Yeah, they had to get out of this rain. He looked around for a dry spot, until he saw a shop with small roof over it. He grabbed Lee's hand and headed towards it.

The shop had a windowsill that Carter immediately made Lee sit on and took off his jacket, throwing it over Lee's shoulders, which made his partner immediately protest, but Carter waved him off and pulled out his phone.

When he felt Lee's glare on him, he rolled his eyes.

"Just because you jumped out of a window and ran a mile doesn't erase the fact that you are still supposed to be in a bed, so don't even start Lee. I'm not gonna have you survive an assault just to have you die of pneumonia."

Lee raised an eyebrow, glancing at the wound on Carter's arm. Carter turned his head to the side, phone already dialing a number, as he silently mouthed 'Really? It's a damn scratch'. Lee shrugged. "Still hurt."

Carter shook his head, but couldn't help the feeling of affection tugging at the back of his mind.


	4. Chapter 4

Captain Diel walked to the hospital room where both Carter and Lee were treated for their wounds, much to both men's surprise, he was followed by the Commissioner. Carter and Lee shared a look, but stood up once the men approached them. The Commissioner motioned to them to sit down and they did, he began to speak.  
  
"Detective Carter," he nodded in greetings to the man and then turned his head to Lee, "Inspector Lee, I've heard that this traumatic experience you were unfortunately put through, returned you the ability to speak, I'm very happy for you." He pulled a chair from the corner of the room to sit in front of the bed Lee was in.  
  
"Thank you." Lee replied.  
  
The Commissioner smiled.  
  
"I understand that you went through some very traumatic experience yesterday, but I still have to ask you, was it necessary to kill the suspect? Was there no way to simply incapacitate him?"  
  
Lee stared at the man in silence, before giving his partner a quick glance.  
  
"I didn't mean to kill him."  
  
The Commissioner raised an eyebrow.  
  
"You are a master in martial arts, you don't honestly want me to believe that you can't tell when you've gone too far? Are you sure it wasn't simply personal vendetta on your part?"  
  
"With all due respect sir -" Carter tried.  
  
"I wasn't asking for your opinion, Detective Carter, now was I?!" The Commissioner snapped. Carter immediately went silent. Lee watched his partner helplessly.  
  
"I asked you a question, Inspector Lee."  
  
"He shot my partner. It had nothing to do with what happened to me, I remember very little of that."  
  
"You remember very little, is that so? That man's face is a complete mush, he died slow agonizing death, people don't do that to people they don't know."  
  
"I don't know him, I don't know why he attack me or what he did to me, I know he said he will kill us both and then he shot Carter, I had no choice, I'm sorry."  
  
"You should be.You've put yourself in a worse situation by removing the only current suspect of your case. On top of that, we will have to investigate the circumstances of last night's incident, you must understand that this level of violence from an officer, even if you are a foreigner, is unacceptable. Captain Diel will take care of your transport back to the station once you are well enough, until then you will stay here. Goodbye Inspector Lee."

The Commissioner barely made out of the door when Carter ran out after him.

  
"He already told you that it was self-defense!" Carter cried out.

The Commissioner sighed and turned around to face the distressed partner.

"Do you even know who was the man that Inspector Lee killed?"

Carter paused for a moment, but shook his head.

"Yakuza henchman, japanese mafia, very notorious for having gang wars with the chinese Triads."

Carter give him incredulous look.

"Lee's got nothing to do with a gang, the guy's practically oozing with honor, he would never get along with someone like that."

"Yet you were there when he brutalized a man with his bare hands, not something an innocent man would do. Maybe you don't know him as well as you think you do."

"I trust him." Carter said stubbornly.

The Commissioner looked him up and down with a look of pity.

"Even the devil was once an angel, I hope you keep that in mind, goodbye detective."

He left Carter standing in the hall with doubts flooding his mind.

* * *

 

"Lee?"

Lee raised his eyes from his bandaged hands.

"Yes?"

Carter moved to sit next to Lee on his bed, unconsciously grabbing his hand to look at the damage done to it and partially as a distraction.

"You really don't know why they attacked you?"

Lee gave him a look that he couldn't read, as if Lee himself, wasn't sure what was going through his own mind.

"Not really."

Carter released his hand.

"That's not a no, Lee. That's 'I know something, but won't tell my partner'."

Lee shook his head.

"No, I just don't know. I suspect."

"You knew the guy was Yakuza, didn't you?"

Lee slowly nodded.

"Why do I have a feeling that you are hiding something important from me? They could send you to jail for killing that guy, you know that right?"

"Yes."

Carter stood up throwing his hands in the air in frustration.

"Well shit, don't worry too much Lee, damn!"

"They won't." Lee replied softly. Carter gave him an incredulous look.

"Oh and why's that?"

Lee shrugged.

"They always try to scare people to talk, they don't care about dead gang member, people like that are killed by police all the time. Is not the first time I see this happen, Carter. Happen all the time in China."

"Can't you just tell me what's going on here, we are partners aren't we?"

That made Lee stand up this time and walking up to Carter,Lee pressed his lips against Carter's in a light kiss.

"Do you trust me?" He asked seriously, his bandaged hand brushing against Carter's.

Carter hesitated.

_Even the devil was once an angel, I hope you keep that in mind._

He frowned. _I'm no saint either._

"Yeah, I do." Carter replied, his hand carefuly wrapping around Lee's.

Lee smiled at that and kissed him once more before pulling back and walked over to the window.

"If I'm right about what happen and I go back to station, I die and everyone else there too." He said without much emotion in his voice. It made Carter a little bit uneasy, since he was attacked, Lee was acting strange, at first he blamed it on the drugs, but now, when Lee was very much in the control of his own mind, Carter worried.

"How are you gonna find out if you are right about this?"

Lee intently stared out of the window, not looking at Carter whatsoever.

"There is chinese saying, _'_ Even a sheep with the skin of a tiger is afraid of the wolf. _'"_

"Alright and what is that supposed to mean?"

Lee then finally turned to face him, that unreadable expression back.

"It mean we wait for the wolf."

"I don't know if I like the sound of that."

 

* * *

 

Several hours and one patrol change later, both men walked down the hallway until Lee paused suddenly, making Carter stop as well.

"I was right, Carter." He nodded for Carter to look ahead of them, which he did.

A man in white suit approached them at quick pace, eyes very clearly fixed on Lee. The stony expression on that man's face put Carter on his guard, he wasn't sure if the man was there to hurt them or not, but he wasn't about to take any chances.

However, much to his surprise, instead of a gun in the face, the man spread his arms wide and pulled Lee into an embrace like some long lost brother. When he saw Lee return the embrace, he relaxed a little. So they were on good terms, there's that.

When they pulled back, they started talking in another language, which Carter suspected was japanese.

_"I'm sorry, Lee. I didn't think they would come after you. We'll take care of this mess, you have my word, brother."_

_"Kenji, the man who came after me yesterday said they are still looking for me."_

_"What? My men haven't said anything about another assault on you, are you alright? Where is he?"_

_"He's dead now, I...I killed him when he tried to shoot Carter, my partner."_ Lee nodded towards Carter who was still staring at both men in puzzlement _. "I just lost it, I thought he killed him, I really didn't mean to do it...."_

Kenji squeezed Lee's shoulder.

_"Bastard would die one way or another, you just shortened his death sentence."_

 

"HE is the wolf?" Carter pointed at Kenji, interrupting their conversation. Kenji eyed him, raising an eyebrow before speaking out in japanese yet again.

_"He's your partner, huh?"_

_"I trust him with my life."_

_"You always had a strange taste in men."_ Kenji chuckled.

 _"Apparently."_ Lee shrugged.

 

"Well, time to go gentlemen." said Kenji, switching to english. Both he and Lee started walking down the hall and Carter stood there for a moment, dumbfounded before running after them.

"Wait, where are we going? What about the guards?" He complained, Kenji just waved him off.

"They are having a little chat with my boys, don't worry about them."

"How the hell am I gonna explain this to Diel?!"

Kenji turned to stare at Carter, keeping his pace.

"He'll have other things to worry about soon enough." He said with grim voice.

Carter was beginning to worry as well.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this one's short cause I wrote this hella late at night and my brain is like 80% asleep at this point, but WE WILL CONTINUE

As the car moved to it's unknown destination, Lee took a moment to look over at his partner who was unusually silent. Carter was staring out of the window, hand curled into a fist and resting under his chin. The man looked deep in thought.

Lee had a gnawing feeling Carter might be having second thoughts, but now wasn't the time to address the issue. As much as Lee trusted his brother, his personal relationship is something he'd rather keep the way it is - personal. Fortunately for him, besides giving his partner a look, Kenji did not say anything and focused on the road ahead.

Some time has passed before Carter finally asked.

"Is there any point in asking 'Where are we going' or is this a blind date, 'cause I'll be honest with ya, I'm not too fond of unpleasant surprises, especially ones involving bullets."

Lee made a face, but Kenji laughed, turning his eyes from the road to give Carter an amused look, before shaking his head.

"That's funny coming from an American."

Carter's reaction was almost immediate as he straightened in his seat, bristling at the stab on his homeland.

"Excuse you motherf-"

Lee's hand came flying over his mouth so fast that Carter winced, Lee following the suit and whispering an apology before turning to address his brother.

"No need for that Kenji. He only asked."

Kenji shrugged in response.

Carter shoved Lee's hand away from his mouth, keeping firm grip on his partner's wrist. His eyes shooting a glare at Kenji.

"Fine, keep it to yourself, but I damn sure hope you got a doc there, 'cause he" said Carter, nodding his head to Lee, "was supposed to stay in the hospital."

"Carter-"

"Don't Carter me, Lee! You don't know what you looked like yesterday and if you, god forbid, tell me that you are feeling fine-"

"I don't!"

"Well, good! You shouldn't!"

When Lee gave him a look, Carter sputtered "That's not what I meant and you know it! You should be in a bed, preferably a hospital one, recovering. I don't know how are you still moving, let alone talking after everything that's happened - don't get me wrong, I'm really glad that you are talking, it was really weird when you didn't - but my point stands, you are sick, you need a proper doc, so I hope that White Suit over here, has one where he's taking us. That's all."

Lee remained quiet and while he couldn't see, he could hear Kenji's tightening grasp on the leather covered steering wheel. Not good.

Before Carter could continue with his tirade, Lee placed his free hand on Carter's and mouthed.

_No more. He doesn't know._

Carter gave him a confused look, but snapped his mouth shut and turned away, releasing his hold on Lee's wrist and staring out of the window again.

This didn't mean it was over, Lee knew his partner well enough by now. It was just bubbling up, Carter was frustrated from the constant restriction and avoidance, but there was nothing Lee could do. He wasn't even sure if he, himself, was ready to hear the details of what happened.

His memory was...foggy, to say the least.

He remembered things, but things that were way too much out of order for him to talk about it. Bits and pieces of the actual assault, the random flashbacks of blinding pain and images that made no sense. It felt like the images of his drugged mind blended with what was real, so while he remembered _enough_ , he wasn't sure how much of it was the reality.

Even now, his mind was filled with thoughts that shouldn't _be there_ anymore.

He knew he wasn't alright.

 


End file.
